Reflection

This course has taught me the necessary skills and abilities to effectively teach students of the 21st century. I have learned a variety resources and tools that are or could be available to me and my students. I have gained a thorough understanding of how to integrate technology into my classroom and the many reasons that it is important. I have learned about wikis, podcasts, blogs, and how to use them. I believe that a teacher must completely understand and master skills in a specific area, in order to teach it effectively to students. I feel that because of what I have learned through this course, I can now integrate technology into my classroom. I believe it is so important that other teachers commit to being lifelong learners and begin to educate themselves on the benefits of technology in the classroom. Students today are much different than those of the past. They have changed tremendously and therefore so have their needs for successful existence in our world. Another important part of this course was changing my perspective from teacher-centered to learner-centered. I have really begun not only to believe in but to design actual lessons that are learner-centered. Instead of directing activities to my students, I have created activities and lessons that promote higher-level thinking, critical thinking skills, and collaborative opportunities for problem solving. I will definitely be continuing to grow personally as a learner. I will continue to further my knowledge of integrating technology in the classroom. Not only will I do this through continuing my education here at Walden in that area, but also in promoting professional learning opportunities in my school system.
I have spent a considerable amount of time reflecting on two long term goals that I can set for myself. I will be teaching kindergarten starting in the fall and so it is more difficult I terms of technology in respect to what my students abilities will be. I think one goal will be to teach my students some basic computer skills in order for them to be able to explore websites. I think that this is important because I will be exposing them to technology and to computers as well as giving the exposure to different text on different websites. I have an assistant and she will probably have to assist students greatly in the beginning. Overall, my goal will be that my students, even being only 5 years old, will experience a considerable amount of technology integration. Another goal in the next two years would be to possibly acquire funding so that I can have at least 1 or 2 other tools for technology other than just the computer, available to my students. I realize the barriers that I will face in trying to meet this goal, but I have already begun to write requests for grants.
Many things have changed since I first began this course. When I reflected upon the checklist from the beginning of the course, I can see what has changed and what I have learned. I am an advocate for the integration of technology in the classroom and truly understand why. I have already changed my classroom environment greatly and seen, first hand, the benefits that integrating technology into the classroom can provide.

My First Podcast (application 5)

http://www.podcastmachine.com/podcasts/971